


Love Triangle

by Faith280



Category: Red vs Blue
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 08:01:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 7,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17321096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faith280/pseuds/Faith280
Summary: Everyone in Blood Gulch knew Grif and Simmons loved each other; everyone except them. When Grif’s sister decides that Simmons is the perfect guy for her, Grif gets jealous. He really wouldn’t lose the love of his, especially to his own sister; would he?





	1. 1

  *              Love Triangle



Chapter one

 

“Hey Simmons, wait up!” Kaikaina Grif, codename ‘Sister’, shouted it loud enough for everyone to hear. She was once again an active member of the Blue Team, and her bubbly energy was sky high. Way more than usual. She sprinted to catch up to the maroon soldier. With graceful, athletic strides, she easily caught up to him.

  
Poor Simmons was caught off guard. He wasn’t used to women hunting him down. “Uh hi…Kaikaina, what’s going on…” His nervous stammering comments led to nowhere. This always happened to him when girls were around.

  
Out of desperation he glimpsed around to see if his buddy Grif was nearby to save him, but he was nowhere to be seen. Grif was always around, the two of them were hardly ever apart. It had been that way for years. Whether or not Simmons wanted him there, Grif would horn in on everything.

  
Grif always knew what to say to women, he was never tongue tied like Simmons was. Especially since Kaikaina was his sister, he would know how to get rid of her. But now that Simmons really needed him, he wasn’t there.  
All he could see was the hyperactive yellow soldier grabbing ahold of his arm and she didn’t seem like she would let go. Simmons felt like he was screaming inside.

‘Oh lord, I really don’t like it when girls pay direct attention to me, especially this one. Grif, I need you to get control of your sister.’

He just couldn’t get the words out, not that it mattered much. Sister wouldn’t have listened anyway.

  
Silently from a distance, a certain orange solider was watching the entire scene. He narrowed his eyes and glared at his sister’s ridiculous display with his best friend. “What is she up to and why is she hanging all over Simmons like that? It doesn’t make sense.” His suspicions deepened, he didn’t like this at all.

  
“You know, you guys were so brave and stuff, the way you saved the universe, it’s so cool. You were on TV and everything. I may be on the Blue Team, but I know the Red Team were the real heroes, with you and my brother working together like that. And I can tell you were the bravest of all.”

  
Simmons blushed like crazy. It was okay, he still had his helmet on. Sister didn’t need to know.  
Now was his big chance to impress a woman. “Oh, true that was a hard battle, but we all stuck together. I did my duty and made sure none of my soldiers were killed. As Sarge’s second in command for all these years, I was able to put my leadership skills to good use and we scored the victory.”

  
“Uh, you gotta be kidding me. He makes it sound like it was all his battle, how pathetic.” Grif’s curiousity had gotten the better of him. He had to get closer to hear what they were talking about. “Why is Kai hanging around with the loser like that? He is definitely not her type, damnit.”

  
“What’s wrong man, whatcha’ bitching about?”

  
“Jesus Tucker, you scared the hell out of me!” His face turned red with embarrassment. How much did Tucker hear, how much did he know?

  
“Sorry, what were rambling on about? Talking to yourself ain’t cool.”

  
Actually, the conversation was already boring Tucker. He wasn’t known to have much of an attention span anyway. Already he didn’t care too much. But nothing else interesting was going on, so why not!

  
“Nothing, why?”

  
He said it too quickly, it sounded too defensive. Yeah, something really was going on, and it was Tucker’s job to find out what. Challenge accepted.

  
“Hey, no reason. Calm down, don’t tear my head off. I was only worried about you.”

  
“I only said that no nothing is wrong. I am totally fine, life is great, let it go.”

  
Tucker was no stranger to sarcasm. He looked in the general direction that Grif had been looking. All he saw was Sister chatting with Simmons, what was so wrong with that? Since when does Grif care about what his sister was doing with guys anyway.

Was he upset over Simmons? That couldn’t be, Grif always teases him so badly, but they’re  still best friends. Is something else there?

  
“Why is your sister hanging out with that nerd? I thought she was cooler than that. She’ll ruin whatever reputation she has left.” He couldn’t hold back an amused chuckle. “Can you picture those two being a couple? No, I couldn’t even believe that!”

  
Grif’s face turned bright red. The urge to punch Tucker was so strong, he had to turn away. What bothered him the most was that he didn’t know why it bothered him. His sister was a slut, she flirted with every guy. He had gotten used to that over the years, he didn’t care. Why was this one so different, why did he care so much?

  
All he did know was that he was the only one who could insult Simmons and get away with it. The one and only job Grif ever worked hard at. Now that was what bothered him the most. Tucker had crossed the line.

  
“Shut up Tucker, Simmons is my teammate. I’m the one that had to put up with that loser all these years. I’m the only one who gets to insult him. And is my sister not good enough or something for you to insult her?” He was downright fuming.

  
“Woah, I was only kidding dude. You know me, I joke about everything.” His voice suddenly serious. “Seriously, is something wrong, anything I can help you with?”

  
Grif calmed right down. Be careful, hide it, don’t let anyone know what is wrong. Oh god, especially not Tucker, I’ll never live it down if he knows.

  
“No, nothing’s wrong. Just got some left over adrenaline after that big battle. I’m good now.” He faked a smile, hoping it would convince Tucker, and walked away before the awkwardness got any worse.

  
Tucker was left confused. Boy that was weird. Did this have to do with Simmons? I really struck a nerve when I called him a nerd. I knew those two had a little accident at The Temple incident, but just how close are they anyway? Oh well, that’s their problem, not mine. I’m done with this shit.

  
Meanwhile Simmons’ torture continued. Sister’s constant rambling wouldn’t stop, his head was spinning. He stopped listening a while ago, but she didn’t notice. He could only get in occasional head nods and awkward Uh-uhs once in a while. She barely stopped to catch her breath.

  
Oh where the hell is Grif at? He’s always hanging around bugging me. Damn, I kind of miss it. At least he could distract his sister away from me. I could have sworn I saw him not too long ago, but I don’t know where he went. Damn him, he’s probably hiding out in the pantry wasting all our food while I’m stuck out here so I can’t yell at him.

  
“So Simmons, what do you think of that idea?”

  
Startled, Simmons snapped back to reality. Sister was staring at him expectedly at him. Crap, I wasn’t listening, what did she say? Now I have to answer as if I was listening.  
“Yeah sure. You should go ahead with it”. I hope that’s the right answer.

  
“Okay cool! So when do you want to go out? There’s not many places we can go while we’re still stuck here in the Gulch. But we’ll be re stationed back to Chorus, there’s fun stuff there to do. We can always find somewhere private…”

  
Shit, wrong answer, I don’t want this. Someone help me. “Well…I don’t know for sure. Let me get back to you, and we can figure it all out okay?” Slowly back away, I need to get out of here.

  
“All rightie. Hey, I see Tucker over there, so I’m gonna go talk to him. Don’t forget you owe me one.”

  
Oh lord, how did I get into this?  
Sister strolled off with a big smile on her face. He is so clueless that he’s totally hot. He’s so different from the other guys, that’s the guy for me!

  
Simmons shuddered at the thought of Sister. I can’t believe Grif just abandoned me. After everything we went through together, after all these years. I thought we had something special, but I guess we had nothing.

  
Maybe I should take Sister up on her offer. After all, she is Grif’s sister, how different could she really be from Grif? Maybe this is all for the best. Grif and I are too different for each other anyway…


	2. 2

Chapter 2

  
Grif stomped back to the base. The hurt and disappointment was so built up inside, he didn’t know what to do with it. He felt like crying, but was too proud to give in. Instead he did the next best thing. Among the supplies brought to them from Chorus, was a box of Twinkies. That would work.

  
He promised to share them with Simmons and Donut, but to hell with them, he needed it more. He ripped the top off, shook out the packages and threw the box down, not caring where it went. Let Simmons clean it up, serves him right. He made his way to his bedroom where he could brood in peace and enjoy the cakes.

  
Shortly after, Simmons made his way to the base. He was emotionally drained and stressed out. He only wanted to relax and pretend that this horrible day never happened. He still didn’t know where Grif was, but judging by the debris field he found starting in the kitchen, he had a pretty good idea. So much for relaxing, now he had a major mess to clean up. Damn you Grif.  
The trail of snack cake wrappers led to Grif’s room; surprise, surprise. He knocked before stepping into his room.

  
“Uh Grif, remember that deal we made? You start being neater and I don’t have to bitch at you so much.”

  
He pretended to think. “Yeah, I vaguely remember that conversation. And I have been cleaning up after myself.”

  
“Sure, then why is there a trail of Twinkie wrappers leading to your room?”

  
“Hmm, I don’t know how that happened. I only grabbed a Twinkie on my way up here.”

  
“The whole box was empty and lying in the middle of the kitchen floor.”

  
“Well maybe just a couple…”

  
Simmons’ glare deepened.

  
“Okay, Okay, maybe it was the whole box. I meant to throw away the box and I missed the garbage can. The wrappers must have fallen out of my hands and I didn’t see them. There any better?”

  
“You said you were going to try harder.”

  
“I did.”

  
“For one day, it usually takes longer than that.”

  
“That was the longest, most miserable day of my life. This is the way I am, take it or leave it.”

  
“Seriously, why do I even try. You are hopeless.”

  
“Yep, tried telling you that. What happened to your little fan club? Did you scare her away?”

  
Grif wanted it to sound like he was joking around. Simmons was dense on things like flirting and relationships, maybe it was all innocent and he had nothing to worry about. Grif could trust Simmons. Still, his own family turned on him, how did he know Simmons wouldn’t either?

  
The way Grif said that, it really hurt. “What…do you mean earlier with your sister? I didn’t know you saw that.” Simmons’ heart dropped, Grif really did ditch him on purpose.

  
“Yeah, I saw your pitiful little scene. You guys were only embarrassing yourselves. Don’t let Kai fool you that you’re anything special to her, she’ll flirt with any guy. You’re nothing to her.”

  
Grif winced at his own words. How could he say that? This was his best friend, the only one he ever had. Grif never had a good track record on trusting people. It was only a matter of time before Simmons would ditch him too. Guess if you don’t get too attached, you don’t get hurt.

  
Simmons was surprised and deeply hurt. Grif was usually moody, Simmons could over look past that. But this was a whole other side to him. He turned away from Grif, he couldn’t stand to look at him right now. He made him feel as insecure as the girls in high school had done. It brought back too many bad memories.

  
He took in a deep breath. “Fine, since this is the way you feel, it’s best for us to stay away from each other. The shuttle will be coming in a few days to take us all back to Chorus. I suggest you start cleaning up this pig-sty now if you want to be ready in time. I give up, I don’t know what to do or say anymore, so I honestly give up.” He slammed out with out another word.

  
Grif was dying inside. He didn’t want to lose his friend, how could he let him walk out like this? What he was afraid of happening was happening, and all because of his stupid pride. He had only himself to blame. Man was he hating himself right now.

 


	3. 3

Chapter 3

  
In spite of himself, Grif dozed off. He was awoken by someone calling his name. “Huh, Simmons, is that you?” He got his hopes up.

  
“Nope, it’s me buddy.” It was Donut’s annoying whiny voice.

  
Damnit Donut. “What are you bugging me about now.” His depression returned.

  
“Dinner is ready if you want any.”

  
“What is it?”

  
“Some unidentifiable beef product and dehydrated mashed potatoes.”

  
Gross, I was better off with the Twinkies. “All right, I’ll be down.” It may be disgusting, but Grif would never intentionally miss a meal.

  
When he stepped into the kitchen, he almost stopped right in his tracks. Simmons was still there, and the awkwardness from earlier was still there.

  
“Your plate is on the counter. If you want it, eat it. If not, you certainly won’t starve.”

He wasn’t ready to forgive him yet ,so he turned to leave. He couldn’t stand to look at Grif, his hurtful words were still fresh in Simmons’ mind.

  
Yeah I deserved that. Get a grip Grif, you cannot let him leave like this.

  
“Wait, hold on a minute. You know how I have issues with saying I’m sorry because I never am, but this is one time I am sorry . I didn’t mean it the way you think I did.”

  
Simmons stopped and gave his full attention. “Go on, I’m listening.”

  
“Kai is a sneaky, spoiled rotten brat. She’s used to getting her way and will use you if it’s necessary to get what she wants. Just be careful, I don’t want you to get hurt by her. That’s all I meant by what I said and it came out all wrong.”

  
Maybe she’s not the one I want.

“All right, that’s fair, apology accepted. Sister wanted to go out on a date before we left the Gulch and I was going to take her up on it. I appreciate the concern, but I’ll be fine. I think I can handle one young girl by myself. Goodnight.”

  
Damn, I guess I killed this friendship. Oh well, it was only a matter of time. Everybody always leaves. My own Mother didn’t want to stick around. I don’t know how he put up with me this long.

  
He picked at his dinner, not really caring if he ate. Though it was disgusting, he finished it, left the dirty plate on the counter for Simmons to clean later.

He went to take a shower, making sure he used all the hot water, messed up as many towels as he could, and left water all over the floor. Since we’re not friends anymore, who cares about being neat for him.

  
He laid in bed, staring at the ceiling while brooding over his problems and wishing he wasn’t being replaced by his own sister in Simmons’ life.

Life sucks, everyone in it sucks. Sleep finally came for Grif to end his misery, and he kept everyone awake half the night with his awful snoring.  
  
  
  



	4. 4

Chapter 4

Early in the afternoon, Simmons headed out to find Sister. He found her at the Blue Base, she was just waking up. She was quite hungover from the night before. Hungover or stoned, it was hard to tell which. Oh lord, this was looking promising already.

  
Sister made herself somewhat presentable. The upside was she wasn’t nearly as chatty as yesterday. Today would be Simmons’ day to impress her. He planned a little picnic lunch that he worked hard on. He hoped she liked it.

  
“So dude, where are we going?”

  
“I thought we could take a walk, find a shady spot and have a little picnic.”

  
“Awww, how cute, that’ll be awesome! I know just the perfect place, come on.”

  
She grabbed his arm and pulled him along at almost a jogging speed. He could barely keep up with her, she was practically dragging him. Reminder: ask Agent Washington for a better workout schedule.

  
He was out of breath by the time Sister found the spot she wanted. “Here, this is it. Let’s put down the blanket. We can have some fun.”

  
Simmons was naïve, he didn’t suspect what she meant by fun. She starting working at the enclosures on her yellow armor. He caught on pretty quick, panic mode set in.

  
“Woah, I think you should leave that on. The atmosphere here isn’t stable enough to go without the armor. Your skin will burn very quickly out in these elements. It’s better if we just sit here and talk for a while. Get to know each other better first.” I hope that distracts her.

  
She was agreeable, most of what he said went over her head anyway. “Okay, whatcha’ want to talk about?”

  
“Well, what about you, do you have any sports or hobbies you enjoy?” Boring yes, but less scary than her idea. He stuck by his decision.

  
“Yeah, I was a cheerleader and a good gymnast since I’m double jointed. Want to see some moves? I got some good ones.”

  
No. “Uh, maybe later.” Oh lord, change the subject. “How about any pets?” That’s safe enough.

  
“Well, I used to have a goldfish when I was five, but Dex took it away from me. I kept trying to take it out of the fishbowl to take it for a walk, but you can’t do that to a fish, so I lost it. Dex was the one who had pets.”

  
Now she had Simmons’ attention. “Oh really, what pets did he have?”

  
“He had a little dog when we were kids, Max, but he died and Dex wouldn’t get any more pets even though he liked them, he was too sad over it.”

  
“That’s so sad, I never knew Grif liked animals. What was Grif like when you were kids?”

  
“I didn’t know too much about him, he wouldn’t let anyone know too much. Mom and Dad were always away or fighting with each other. He would hide away a lot in his room. He wouldn’t come out much. He loved his video games and playing on his computer. He didn’t even go out with his friends, I don’t think he had many.”

  
“ Huh, he hasn’t changed much over the years. He still gets moody and hides away. What else do you remember?”

  
“All I know is no matter how many times I pissed him off, he always forgave me. He always had my back when no one else would. He was a better parent than our parents were. That’s about all I know about him.”

  
It was nice having an intelligent conversation with Sister for once. “Really? Grif’s a very interesting character, I know that after all these years.”

  
“Yeah, I bet. You like to talk about him a lot, I can tell you two are really good friends”

  
“Yes, we were, Uh...are good friends.”

  
“That’s good, he deserves it. He never had that many.”

  
Oh why do I feel even worse than I did earlier. This entire date was a disaster. I try to talk to a girl and all I talk about is Grif, what an epic fail. Luckily, she’s not bright enough to take offense. I don’t know what to do.

 


	5. 5

Chapter 5

  
Simmons walked Sister back to her base. He considered the date a big failure, that should end the idea.

Unfortunately, Sister didn’t see it that way. She never had a guy play hard to get before, it was making the whole chase game so much more interesting. Now she was on a mission to get this guy.

  
“Well, here we are, it’s been a nice afternoon. Hope we can do it again soon.” He just wanted to get out of there.

  
“Oh yeah, we have to. The shuttle will be coming tomorrow, I’ll sit with you on the way to Chorus. I still have lots more to talk to you about, way more.”

  
Oh god. “Sure, sounds great, can’t wait for that. See you tomorrow.” Someone just shoot me now.

  
When Sister was out of sight, Simmons turned around and practically tripped over Tucker. He looked particularly amused.

  
“Holy shit, Tucker, what are you doing?”

  
“Hey, it’s my base dude, I can go where I want. The question is, what are you doing?”

  
“I was just bringing Sister back from our date. It’s no big deal, nothing happened.”

  
“That’s the problem. That girl is easy, she’ll do it with anyone at anytime. You’re the one guy on the planet that didn’t have sex with her.”

  
“So what, maybe I don’t want to. Maybe I was more interested in stimulating conversation.”

  
“No, not with that girl, she’s dumber than Caboose. It might be a weird coincidence, but Grif wasn’t too happy about the idea of you talking with his sister. Now you spend some quality time with her and nothing happens. This is pretty interesting.”

  
Simmons was flustered, he thought Tucker was a moron, how the hell did he get to be so smart. This was like the Twilight Zone.

  
“I have no idea what you mean.”

  
“Yes you do. You both know, just think about it a while. You’ll thank me later.”

  
This is weird. I can’t wait to get out of this Gulch and go home. I just want to go home and away from all these crazy people. My dad was right, the Army wasn’t the right choice for me.

  
Back at Red Base, Simmons was surprised to see Grif sitting cross legged near the entrance looking like he was asleep. Oh here we go.

  
“What in the world are you doing?”

  
“Daily meditation, it helps keep me relaxed.”

  
Any more relaxed, he’d be in a coma. I had no idea he could get into that pose, he probably can’t get out of it, and I’m not going to help him either.

  
Sigh. “Whatever, have fun with your meditating.”

  
Groan, “Oww, damnit that hurt. You’re back awfully early. I thought you two would be gone all day.”

Secretly he was glad, he hoped they couldn’t stand each other. Less competition that way.

  
“No, this was long enough to get to know each other.”

  
“Oh, what do you think of her?” He tried to sound neutral, instead of begging to please don’t like her.

  
“She’s a great girl and we had fun. We’ll be meeting up on the shuttle for the ride together, so that will be a great time.”

  
He tried to sound upbeat instead of feeling the dread that was weighing him down. He would rather spend the time with Grif, it would be more fun. Why can’t I tell him the truth? It’s bugging me what Tucker said. Could Grif feel the same way? No, after the Temple fiasco, it was too embarrassing. Let it alone.

  
Grif was disappointed, but wasn’t giving up. Wherever Simmons went, he would trail along behind him, for no other purpose than to bug him.

  
But thejoke was on Grif. All the time he thought Simmons hated when he was annoying, he secretly liked it. Today was no different.

  
At first, it seemed accidental. When Simmons went to the kitchen to put away the picnic basket, there was Grif grabbing an apple. When he played around a little with his computer, Grif was looking over his shoulder wondering what game he was playing.

It was like old times when they were bored out of their minds waiting for the Blues to attack them. Now, it was just because. Simmons felt better than he had in a while. Maybe it could work out.

  
Out in the yard, Simmons wished that he could have grown a vegetable garden. With how much time was wasted in the original Blood Gulch, he could have figured it out.

  
Like clockwork, he heard Grif coming out. Grif wasn’t much for the outdoors or any kind of exercise and didn’t really want to be there, but here he was.

  
“You know Grif, it’s too bad the environment is so terrible, this wouldn’t be a bad place for a garden over here”

  
“It hardly ever rains, how would you water it?”

  
“The planet does support an ample interior water supply. All I would have to do is figure how to tap into it, and the extract the water as needed in between rains.”

  
“Huh? In English nerd.”

  
Simmons sighed. “Sorry, I forgot. Dig a deep enough hole to make a well and water the plants as needed.”

  
“Why didn’t you say that in the first place?”

  
Simmons had to smile, the old Grif was slowly coming back.


	6. 6

Chapter 6

  
Overall, the two were having a nice evening, it was like old times. Both of them needed this. What could go wrong? A familiar high, pitched voice brought both of their secure little worlds crashing down on them.

  
“Dex and Simmons, my two favorite guys!”

She ran to them and threw an arm around each of them. With unbelievable strength, she was hurting their rib cages. How could anyone that little be so strong?

  
Grif managed to get loose first and left Simmons at the mercy of his sister. She really had a hold on him, he winced in pain.

  
“Kai, why are you here? You’re Blue Team, go home.” Grif sounded as hostile as he felt towards her.

  
“I wanted to visit my big brother and my new boyfriend. We can all hang out together just like a real family. Wouldn’t it be weird if Simmons and I got married, then we really could be. Maybe we should give it a try.”

  
Grif’s heart stopped for a beat.

“Since when are you two getting married? Funny how you didn’t mention you were engaged.”

  
Never. “Grif, seriously I never said I was getting married, it was only one date.” His heart was pounding, it was like he couldn’t breathe.

  
“No Simmons, you are the perfect guy for me. You’re different from all those idiots out there.”

  
Simmons panicked. Now was the right time to tell Sister the truth, to tell Grif the truth, but he couldn’t find the words.

How could he break this young girl’s heart? He wasn’t that cruel. And with Grif…what if he didn’t feel the same way? Years of a solid friendship ending over one stupid emotion. He couldn’t take the chance. He stood there, said nothing and let Sister have control. He felt like a failure.

  
Grif stared down Simmons, waiting for him to speak up for himself.

There was no way Simmons would voluntarily marry this girl or any other girl. He could hardly talk to one. Grif could feel it, the way Simmons looked, he just had to say the words. This was one time Grif couldn’t speak up for him, Simmons had to this for himself.

But there was nothing…did Simmons actually give up?

  
“To hell with this, I’m outta here. You both can go have a nice life together” He glared at Simmons. “You woohs.”

  
Damn it. “Look Sister, Uh Kaikaina, we need to talk. This whole ‘marriage’ thing, you don’t even know me. How can you say I’m the perfect guy? We were only together once, relationships take time.” This is completely ridiculous.

  
“Oh yeah, I know all that. I’m not stupid.”

  
Are you sure? “Good, because we need to be on the same page here.”

  
“Absolutely. We can spend our time on the shuttle home together and get even closer.”

  
No, we’re nowhere in the same universe. “Uh, Sister, just don’t get your hopes up. There’s a lot of guys out there, you’re still young, give it time.”

  
“Oh sure absolutely, I totally get it. We can take some time before the wedding, I’m all for that. We got plenty of time to be together. Can’t wait for tomorrow, love ya, night-night.”

  
Sigh, why me. “Yeah, yeah. Goodnight.”

  
I can’t bring myself to break this girl’s heart, but I can break my best friend’s heart. Damn, what’s wrong with me?


	7. 7

Chapter 7

  
Grif nervously paced around the junk in his room, talking to himself.

  
“This place is still a mess, I’ll never have it all packed away by tomorrow. Oh what’s the use, I suck at cleaning. Oh god, that’s where that missing sandwich went to, this is gross. I give up, I’ll worry about it in the morning. I can’t concentrate on anything. Damn those two, they’re idiots.”

  
“This sucks so much to sit back and watch my sister getting to have the life that I want. She was always popular, always had a ton of friends, hell even our own parents favored her over me. It never bothered me before, I don’t know why, but it didn’t. I thought Simmons was mine. Now he failed me, some friend he turned out to be.”

  
He stretched out in the bed. Maybe relaxing would help. It’s better than working. There’s no point stressing over it. If Simmons wasn’t willing to help himself, Grif couldn’t always be there to protect him. Apparently, that will never change, so good riddance. He didn’t need the extra stress in his life.

  
He stared up at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to come, but for the first time, he couldn’t. Napping was his second favorite hobby, and even that got taken away from him, how great.

  
“Grif, are you still up?”

  
“No, what do you want you traitor.”

  
Simmons grimaced at his tone. So much for letting Grif cool off. “I’m already all packed for the trip back to Chorus tomorrow.”

  
“That’s nice.”

  
“Are you ready?”

  
“Look at this place, does it look like I am?”

  
“That figures.”

  
“Yep.”

  
“Are you going to talk to me?”

  
“Nope, don’t wanna.”

  
“Come on Grif, what’s your problem?”

  
Fine, he asked for it. “I thought you were busy hanging out with your ‘fiancée’? Did she leave you so soon?”

  
“Oh shut up. You know better than that. This was all her idea not mine.”

  
“That’s why it ticks me off. You need to stand up for yourself and not be a doormat. You were Sarge’s obedient robot for so long you don’t have a will of your own. Now you’re letting Kai do the same damn thing to you. You were getting better, getting more assertive, now you’re right back where you started. That is what my problem is.”

  
“What was I supposed to do, break her heart, bash her dreams? And I do not have a doormat personality, I’m respectful of other people’s feelings. That’s something you don’t know how to do.”

  
“Then I don’t worry about not caring. Kai isn’t as sweet and innocent as she pretends. She’ll fall in love with the next guy she sees and leave you lonely. She’s done it before, she will do it again. That’s her way. If you don’t believe me, give it time and find out for yourself. She’ll have you crying.”

  
That’s exactly what he knew Sister would do to him. That’s why he knew who he wanted. It was now or never to tell Grif. If this wasn’t done soon, they’d end up enemies.

  
Oh god how to start this. “Grif…” He almost choked on his words.

  
Grif interrupted Simmons before the words could come out, he’d had enough. “I’m going to the kitchen to get some ice cream. You can stand here and talk to yourself, because that’s how much I’m listening.”

  
Simmons felt like a fool. Typical Grif, he’s more concerned with snacking than communicating. It’s safe to say it’s never going to happen now.

  
Out of sheer habit, he started picking up after Grif’s disaster area. If Simmons didn’t do everything around the base, nothing would ever get done. Too bad he couldn’t fix this disaster. Only a miracle could help now.

 


	8. 8

Chapter 8

  
The shuttle ride to Chorus was a miserable one for Grif. Four hours with nothing to do but worry.

The guys were given a hero’s welcome that Grif didn’t want and with people he didn’t want to see. He didn’t want to be at the party or be happy, he just wanted to sit alone and brood.

  
The first chance he got, he slipped away to his quarters, locked the door, and planned to stay there for the rest of the trip. This is where he felt safe and he could relax.

  
A little while later, there was a knock at the door.

“Hey Grif, are you coming out? There’s a party going on, we’re all missing you.” Donut’s usual upbeat, positive voice sounded unusually forced.

  
Bullshit, no one’s missed me. “Not really in the mood for partying right now Donut, go away.”

  
“But they’re serving pizza at the Mess Hall, you wouldn’t want to miss that. Anyway, I called dibs on the pepperoni pizza, so you better get down there and stop me. And they have a big surprise planned for us later, so you kinda have to come.”

  
“Fine, I’ll go down if you stop bugging me.”  
  
“Good, it’s a deal. For real Grif, I don’t know what’s going on between you and Simmons, but I really miss you guys. He’s been acting as miserable as you are. I wish you would let me help, that’s one reason I hoped you would come”

  
“Yeah yeah, I said I would be there.”

He was quiet for a second. “And Donut, thanks for the thought, I appreciate it.”

  
Grif got up from the bed and looked in the mirror. He looked like shit. He couldn’t believe he agreed to be seen like this. And he didn’t want to see Kai hanging around Simmons anymore, it agitated him.

  
But then again there was pizza…this was worth it. His Oreo stash was getting low, and they were so hard to find on Chorus.

Okay, here goes nothing. He tried in vain to smooth down his messy curls, to hell with it. These idiots know what I look like.

  
Down at the Mess Hall, the first thing he noticed was Simmons standing at the buffet trying hard to make the perfect salad.

In spite of his torture, Grif had to smile.What a waste of time, who else besides Simmons could care about vegetables? He made sure to grab all the pizza he wanted first before sneaking up on Simmons.

  
“Hey loser, why are wasting time on this green stuff? The real food is over there.”

  
Simmons kind of jumped, he wasn’t expecting that. Grif hadn’t spoken to him since last night. He perked right up after hearing that familiar, teasing tone. He used to hate it, but man was he missing it.

  
“No this is the real food. It’s better than all that junk you eat. You should try it sometime.”

  
“No way, I’m allergic to that veggie crap. Besides, I have my supper right here.”

  
For the first time, Simmons noticed his plate. “Good grief, that’s like an entire pizza. Are you saving any for everyone else?”

  
“No, they should have gotten it sooner. Donut challenged me on the pepperoni pizza. I couldn’t let him get away with it.”

  
Simmons had to laugh. “Oh lord, you never change.”

  
“Hi ya boys, good to see you’re getting along again. I thought we were going to have another Civil War going on at Red Base.”

  
Tucker was obviously having a good time, drinking too much, and being way too loud. The entire room was looking in their direction. How embarrassing.

  
“Shut up Tucker!”

Grif was scared. Tucker knew too much. What if he said it, here in front of everybody. He couldn’t even tell Simmons how he felt, and soon the whole damn world would know.

  
He whispered to Simmons. “Can’t I just punch out Tucker before he opens his big mouth again?”

  
“No, don’t do that, it would cause more of a scene. Play it cool.”

  
Both Simmons and Grif unanimously whispered as loud as they could at Tucker, “Change the subject!”

  
Surprisingly he listened, but both were in constant fear if he opened his mouth again, there was no telling what would come out.  
Oh hell, never trust anyone on the Blue Team.


	9. 9

~~~~

Chapter 9

  
Simmons discreetly motioned that he and Grif should leave before it got any worse. Tucker’s outburst was soon forgotten. So much noise and commotion was going on, no one paid attention.

But they were taking no chances.   
As soon as Simmons tried to slip away, someone jumped him from behind. The force almost knocked him over.

“What the hell was that?”

  
“Guess who, handsome?”

  
Oh god. “Hello Sister.” His voice was flat and monotone, he wasn’t happy to see her at all. She naturally failed to take notice.

  
“I’m so happy I caught up with you. All this partying going on is crazy. We should go dance or something.”

  
“There’s no music playing.”

  
“That’s okay, we sing our own and then every body will join in.”

  
“No, I’m enjoying myself enough without the dancing.”

  
“All rightee, whatever you want honey.”

  
It was becoming his natural reaction to cringe at the sheer sound of her voice, but the idea of dancing? No way was he going to it.

His one attempt at dancing was at a Middle School dance that ended in epic failure. The teasing and taunting from the jocks and cheerleaders still haunted him to this day. All the bad memories came flooding back.

  
Grif stood back watching, the familiar twinge of anger over seeing his sister with Simmons returned. Before it could boil over, a new revelation hit him.

  
That panic stricken look on Simmons’ face. Grif had seen it so many times before. All because he was faced with something that scared him. He wasn’t into her, he was more like terrified of her. All this time I thought she was stealing him away, I’ve been pushing him away. Why didn’t I see that before now?

  
I’ve got to go save him, that’s my job, we’re teammates. “Hey Kai, this punch they’re serving is pretty lame. Got any of that alcoholic crap you used to sneak home for us when we were kids?”

  
“Duh, of course I do. It’s not crap, it’s homemade moonshine.”

  
“Whatever it is ,it’s about 1,000 proof. Go get it, then we can really party.”

  
“Awesome, I’ll be back!”

  
“What’s up with you? Why aren’t you mad?”

  
“Cause I’ve been stupid this whole time. You don’t even like her do you?”

  
“No! How did you catch on that I didn’t?”

  
“That look on your face when she was talking to you. That’s the same face you make when something’s seriously freaking you out.”

  
“I don’t make any faces.”

  
“Bull, before we got assigned to the first Blood Gulch, you found out how deathly afraid you were of heights. It’s that same face.”

  
“That’s like the first time we ever met each other. That was years ago, how do you remember it?”

  
“You got me out of basic training that day, it took Sarge practically forever to get you off the bridge. I totally loved you that day.”

  
Simmons had to laugh “You always have ulterior motives for everything you do. Just don’t go mentioning that bridge again. I still have nightmares over it.”

  
“Since I know now you’re not interested in my sister, when she gets back, I’ll get rid of her for real. Then you don’t have to worry about sparing her feelings.”

  
“What are you going to tell her? It’s not like you can tell her the truth, I’ll come out looking like the bad guy.”

  
“No, I’ll be the heel. I’m her older brother I’m supposed to treat her badly.”

  
“That’s not much better.”

  
Tucker’s curiousity got the better of him. “No, I’ll be the good guy for once and help you two out.”

  
“No way, you’ll butt in and make it worse.” Grif didn’t trust him.

Tucker was a tricky one. He could use his mouth for good or evil. The hard part was telling which was which.

  
“Come on, you hurt my feelings. Trust me, I got this.”

  
“Oddly, I’m with Grif on this one. What do you plan on doing?”

  
“I’m going to man-up, bite the bullet, and take care of your girl problem. Don’t worry, when I’m done, she won’t even think about you anymore.” He walked over to stop Sister from coming any closer.

  
Simmons looked at Grif. “What’s he going to do shoot her?” He shook his head sarcastically.

  
Grif shrugged. “I would vote for that.”

  
Tucker caught up with Sister.

“Come here for a sec, I have something I need to ask you.”  
He put his arm around her and led her away. As he passed Simmons, he muttered, “you owe me one dude.”

  
“Huh, So it was that easy. All it took was a second idiot to get rid of the first one. We should have hired him out sooner.”

  
“Well Grif, what do we do now?”

  
His mouth was full of pizza. “About what?”

  
Sigh, “I guess about nothing.” So much for all that.

 

 

 


	10. 10

Chapter 10

  
“Do you think it’s safe enough to go back to the party?” Simmons was still paranoid.

  
“Don’t see why not. Dumb and dumber are gone for the night. What else could happen?”

  
“What are you soldiers doing?”

The intensity of the voice made them both jump to attention.  
Simmons naturally recovered first.

“Yes sir!” As the Red Team’s official ass kisser, it was his natural reaction to suck up to higher authority. Even when he didn’t know who it was.

  
“Ugh.” It was Grif’s nature to dread it. He and authority have never gotten along.

  
A familiar form limped into the view. They both reacted at the same time. “Wash!”

No one had heard from him since his near fatal gunshot wound to the throat.

  
“It’s great to see you back sir, but why are you back so soon? That was a bad injury. Shouldn’t you still be recovering?”

  
“Yes I know, I wasn’t supposed to be up yet, but I was going crazy lying in that hospital bed with only Dr. Grey to talk to. God that woman scares me so. Besides this is a big moment for you guys, I couldn’t miss it for anything.”

  
“Uhh, I don’t have to salute you or give extra respect to you do I?”

  
Wash had to smile. “When have you ever done that Grif?”

  
“Never.”

  
“Then why would I expect you to do it now?”

  
“Okay, cool. Then I’m really happy you’re back bro.”

  
“Thank you, that’s a big moment coming from you.”

  
“Yeah, sometimes I try,”

  
“You know, I wanted to talk to you guys privately, and since there’s no one around, I think this hallway will do.”

  
Simmons got a little nervous. “Is something wrong with our recruits? Or worse, was something wrong with my battle techniques. I can study harder, I can work harder.”

  
“Chill out, you’re such a loser.”

  
“ Shut up, I happen to take my career seriously.”

  
“True, you are a professional suck up.”

  
“Enough out of both of you. This is not professional criticism , it’s on a more personal level.”

  
Now they were both nervous.

  
“I know you two have been teammates for a good many years. It was recently brought to my attention that you both may have ‘feelings’ for one another.”

  
Grif wasn’t stupid. “Was it Tucker?”

  
“Hey I’m not here to place blame or disclose any names …yes it was Tucker. But that’s not what’s important here.”

  
“Yeah, it’s more important to me that I pound his face in.”

  
“No you’re not. Now stop it, I’m serious. I’m also not judging you guys or trying to tell you what to do. But if you want, I could arrange for a shuttle with provisions to take you back to Blood Gulch for a little while and you can privately work things out. Feel free to rejoin the gang when you’re both ready. Talk it over, I have to make my appearance now, and we can settle this later.”

  
Simmons was quiet. “Thanks, we’ll do that”

Wash limped with his cane back into the party.

  
He turned to Grif. “You know, we do need to talk. We both keep changing the subject, but we can’t avoid it forever.” He paused to find his words, there was no going back.

  
He didn’t have to say it. Grif grabbed ahold of him and gave him a long, passionate kiss.

Simmons was shocked, he stiffened up. He gave in and returned Grif’s kiss. This kiss was waiting to happen, it needed to happen.

  
“I love you, you nerd . I’ve always loved you, ever since that first day in basic training.”

  
Simmons breathed a huge sigh of relief. “I love you too. There was no way I could say it. I was afraid you would hate me.”

  
“No way. You wonder why I always gave you a hard time and pick on you mercifully. If I didn’t like you, I wouldn’t have bothered.”

  
“I secretly like all the teasing… on second thought ,just don’t do it too much.”

  
“No promises, I’m only human.”

  
“Fair enough.” He nodded with a smile. “Well what are we doing, are we taking Wash up on his offer?”

  
“Might as well. I’m giving this retirement thing another go. I’m done with the military, so this time it better stick.”

  
“I’ll take up gardening. I know my irrigation theory will work, I’m determined to make it work. With a steady supply of water, the planet can support life and bring in tourism.I could make a lot of money off this.”

  
“Boring, just leave me out of it, I’ll be relaxing.”

  
Big surprise, typical Grif. On a whim, Simmons blurted out, “Hey Grif, how did we get here.”

  
Grif had to smile. He wondered when the question would come up.“I don’t know, but enjoy it while it lasts.”

 

 


End file.
